Charles VIII, called the Affable, (30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France, from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne of France acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon until 1491 when the young king turned 21 years of age. During Anne's regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a conflict known as the Mad War (1485-1488), which resulted in a victory for the royal government.

To secure his rights to the Neapolitan throne that René of Naples had left to his father, Charles made a series of concessions to neighbouring monarchs and conquered the Italian peninsula without much opposition. The coalition formed against the French invasion of 1494-98 finally drove out Charles' army, but Italian Wars would dominate Western European politics for over 50 years.